My students have found that you definitely do not have to raise your
hand in my class to be choose to give the answer. The questions I ask
are usually open ended so I feel no qualms to insist after I choose
someone that they most answer. I have many shy, quiet students in my
bilinquel classes, that have run into my steamroller technique. They
plead, that they can not speak English, I tell them that is OK tell the
person next to you, in Spanish and they will tell me what you said,
because I really need to know what you think about this. In the
beginning of the year, the class would come to a stand still for about 5
minutes with my poor victim squirming to get out of the spot light. Now
they are use to it, and my shy ones have so many interesting thoughts
that they have shared in my art room.

Now on questions about proceedures, where I have had a chatty class,
that was not paying attention. I sometimes pick the most disruptive
students and ask them to be my teacher assistance at their table and
help the others know what to do. I demostrate the step once more to
them and see who is my best assistant. Naturally there are times when
nothing seems to work and times when the most surprising things do.
Ellen Silverman